48 
WILD AMERICANS 
they stayed near the dogs. After a while, the tone of 
the dogs’ barking changed. 
“Treed!” shouted Charlie. 
That meant the lion had stopped running and was 
up in a tree. In a few minutes the hunters were on 
the scene. Sure enough, on a strong limb of a pine 
tree crouched a big tan-colored cat, snarling at the 
dogs and at the men. The dogs were jumping high 
against the trunk and barking wildly in their excite¬ 
ment. Everybody, even the horses, was excited. Then 
Charlie spoke. 
“He’s a big one, men! Here’s where we have some 
fun!” 
In a flash he had his lariat rope off his saddle; a 
loop was twirling over his head, and—swish, jerk!— 
the lion was lassoed. 
“Pf-f-f-ft! Gr-r-r-r-r!” 
The lion growled and snarled, fighting the rope. 
Charlie was moving extremely fast. With one leap 
he was off his horse. He gave the rope a deft jerk, 
throwing the lion off the limb on the other side from 
where the men were standing. In the same instant, 
Charlie snubbed his end of the rope around a small 
tree nearby, then tied it there. In a moment the lion 
was dangling by the rope, hanging over the limb. The 
